When the Levee Breaks
by C.M. Kelly
Summary: Part 6: In the final installment of this So Weird series, the Phillips face off against an age-old enemy in their biggest battle yet. And this time, it's life or death. NEW CHAPTERS ADDED 05/2016! (Sorry to keep you in suspense for so long!)
1. Chapter 1

The hospital floor was quiet and calm, and outside all was chaos. At least for the time being. Jack and Fi stayed low, creeping toward the exit doors. The demon had found them, as Fi had seen, and the pair needed to escape.

They made it footsteps away from the exit when Fi flinched. Clearly weakened, Jack helped her regain her balance and urged her onward. She took a deep inhalation of breath and doubled over. A look of worry washed over her face.

"There's too much death here, Jack! I can't take it!" Fiona shouted, drawing unwanted attention. She held tightly to her skull and struggled to propel her body forward.

"What do you mean?" Jack pleaded.

The older nurse behind the desk jumped to her feet. "Excuse me! You two, back in your room!"

"Don't make me do this!" Fi shouted again.

"Fiona!" Jack looped an arm around her waist. "You aren't making any sense. Take it easy."

The nurse was on their heels. She was waving the male nurse over to them, as Jack and Fi hurried toward the exit.

"Sir, step back, please. We need to return your sister to her room," the male nurse called out. "How many times do we need to tell you?"

Jack was too concerned for Fi to take direction from some nurse. He continued toward the double doors.

"The locks are still engaged," Fi groaned.

"Open this door!" Jack demanded to the male nurse, now in an arm's reach of the pair. "It's an emergency. Open the door!"

"Jack, look out!" Fi suddenly warned.

Jack darted his eyes around the room, anticipating a threat. Nothing.

"No… no… no…" Fi rambled.

"Tell me what you see," he begged her. "Fiona, please."

"Sir!" the nurse repeated. "Get the patient back to her-"

"Death! So much death!" Fi cried. She lowered herself to the floor and placed a palm to the tile, as if checking for a pulse. Jack followed her down.

"Talk to me, Fi. You're scaring me."

"So much… death," she shuddered, her voice wavering. "Here."

The nurse grabbed Fi's arm forcefully. Jack was quick to peel it away, but before he could get a decent grip, the nurse was flung over the desk, sending a computer monitor crashing to the ground.

Jack got to his feet in an instant. He surveyed the lobby for the force that knocked the nurse away. He fixed his focus on Fiona, who hadn't moved from her place on the floor.

"Here," she repeated, this time through gritted teeth. She arched her back forward, causing her long hair to conceal her face.

Jack moved away from his sister, frightened. He had sensed she was different from the moment she had woken up. His mind raced. She was acting strange, almost like… she wasn't human-

He couldn't even think it. But subconsciously, he was making a choice: whatever had become of his sister, she would either need to be helped, or hunted.

While Jack stood back, conflicted, the male nurse had seemingly recovered. He was fast to get back to the pair, triggering Jack's protective instincts. He stood tall between the nurse and Fi, ready to fight. As the man approached, he noted a strange darkness in his eyes. And the other nurses, they had started to gather as well, stretching and contracting their hands hanging at their sides.

Something wasn't right. Jack couldn't place it, but his gut told him to run.

"C'mon, Fiona," he urged, turning and cupping her shoulder. The moment his hand made contact, Fi whipped her head in his direction. Through her hair, he caught in her eyes an animalistic glare he had never seen from any human, let alone Fi.

"Get back!" she growled.

Jack back-peddled away in shock. The nurses got closer. Jack could finally see that their eyes were not just dark, but pitch black. Demons. All of them.

Jack went straight for the exit, ramming the double doors. They didn't even shake under his weight. He and Fi were trapped.

In the same moment, Fiona stood slowly, her hair still masking most of her face. Her hands shook as she raised them up, then outward. Her fingers stretched, and stretched, until they appeared as if they would break. The nurses kept coming. Fi lifted her head, revealing a twisted grin.

Suddenly, a force radiated from her palms, ricocheting the possessed nurses in every direction. The older nurse's body went straight through the glass leading to the hallway.

Jack watched on wide-eyed, clutching his necklace and chest as if reminding himself to breathe. Fiona had terrified him with her new "talent". He needed time to process what was happening. He needed answers.

Hesitant to lay a hand on Fi again, he yelled out to her, "Fi! The window! Let's go!"

"Not yet," she smirked, making Jack more uneasy than before.

In a moment of bravery, he confronted her, demanding, "What are you?"

"Move aside, Jack."

"You aren't my sister. What are you!?"

With an open palm she gently moved Jack aside. He felt the rubber of his boots drag across the tile.

"What the hell are you!?" he roared.

Ignoring his outburst, Fi balled her fists. She eyed the demons, now crawling around the room. She threw her head back and screamed. Jack watched on in horror. All around them, the nurses collapsed. Black smoke emanated from their mouths. In the surrounding rooms, patients and guests did the same.

And then there was silence. Fiona got very calm. She lowered her arms and hugged herself. She apprehensively turned to Jack.

She was met by the barrel of his handgun.

Jack bent back the hammer and returned his aim to her forehead.

"It's me!" Fi shrieked.

Jack didn't flinch.

"You're not my sister."

"Jack," she softly pleaded, "It's me. I swear."

"Don't move," he commanded.

His hand tremored. In a swift movement, he retrieved the vial of holy water from his jacket pocket and popped the cap. He extended it to Fi, keeping the gun raised.

"Drink it."

Fi took the vial and drank. Jack eyed her intently.

"See?"

He analyzed her, frowning.

"I don't understand it either, Jack. But you need to trust me. We need to leave, _now_. The demon is here. He knows where we are, who we are…"

"Okay. Right," Jack folded, lowering his gun. He had vowed to protect Fiona no matter what, though the current circumstance wasn't close to the "what" he had anticipated.

"Do we have time to help these people?" he questioned, surveying the bodies.

"We're too late," Fi replied grimly. "They're all-"

Fi was cut off by a nearby scream. Her heart pounded.

"The window, c'mon!" Jack shouted.

He helped Fi over the broken glass, and the two hurriedly found and descended the staircase.

"Jack, the body in the parking lot, the woman," Fi huffed between steps.

"Not now. Hurry up."

"Wait," she paused, grabbing him by the arm.

Jack attempted to pull her along, impatient. She wouldn't budge.

"The demon - it killed her because she was helping us."

"Let's go," he insisted. "We're almost at the bottom. Walk and talk."

"The woman with the dark hair. The one who gave me this," Fi continued, exhibiting a small charm.

"Kayla?" Jack halted as though the wind had been knocked out of him.

"It was to weaken you, Jack. You can't let it, okay? We need to stay focused."

"How do you know… Are you sure-" he started to say, but somehow he knew it was true. His chest sank. Feelings of guilt and defeat knotted his stomach. He fought them off and took the remainder of the staircase in a few great strides.

Fi eyed the emergency exit from the landing at the bottom of the stairs.

"This is going to sound an alarm," she informed Jack, as if she hadn't just delivered such devastating news a moment before. "We'll have about ten seconds to make it around the side of the building and down the closest alleyway." Jack simply nodded in response.

"If we need to get desperate," she continued with both hands on the exit handle, "look out for-"

Before she could finish her thought, she locked eyes with a figure, staring straight at her from the small glass window that looked out onto the parking garage; a tall man with light hair and a toothy grin, made more chilling only by his piercing yellow eyes.

Fi froze. The man with the yellow eyes gave her a friendly nod, a gesture that Fiona could only interpret to mean, "Soon."

Just then, Jack flung the emergency exit door open and pushed her through it.

Their legs pumped through the street. Red and blue lights bounced off of every surrounding building. The pair took the first dim corner, ducking out of sight.

Jack motioned toward an adjacent street, and they ran faster. The sound of sirens came screaming from the distance, nearing closer by the second. Jack pulled Fi around another corner, where he was met abruptly by a bump to the chest. A male figure fell to the ground, clutching his arm in pain.

"Clu?" Jack breathed, quickly helping the man to his feet.

"I came here as soon as I heard-" he started to explain. Before he could gain his balance however, Jack pulled him along with Fiona, continuing their sprint.

"Get us to your car!" he demanded.

"This way," Clu responded, sensing his friend's urgency. "Couldn't get close," he panted. "Hospital. Lockdown."

"We know," Jack and Fi said in unison.

The three reached Clu's sedan and piled in.

"Drive," Jack demanded, pounding on the dash.

"Working on it," Clu stuttered, fumbling to get the key into the ignition. "Got it!"

"Go!" Fi yelled from the back seat.

Clu peeled out of his parking space and drove as fast and he could manage in the opposite direction of the hospital.

"Where to?" he asked in a panic.

"Home," Fi quickly responded. "We're going home."


	2. Chapter 2

_"Home. We're going home."_

Jack shot a look at Fi over his shoulder. "No. We're going wherever Mom took the Colt."

"Which is home," Fi shot back.

"How could you possibly know that? What the hell happened back there? How did you… _do_ that?"

"I don't know. I did what felt natural."

"Natural?! You've got to be kidding me."

"Why?" Clu butted in, "What happened back there?"

"I'd tell you 'demons' but I know you don't believe in them," Fi scoffed.

"Listen, I've been remembering bits and pieces of what happened to me… Didn't leave a whole lot of room for skepticism."

"Big word," Jack mumbled.

"What's your problem, man? I'm saving your ass, apparently."

"Nothing."

"We got some bad news," Fi offered. "Jack isn't taking it well."

"Hah!" Jack exclaimed. "A dog running away from home is bad news. This is- People are dead because of us, Fi. We've got _demons_ after us. You're performing exorcisms with your mind. And the one weapon that could protect us is God-knows-where."

"I already told you, Jack. It's _home_. With Mom, and Carey. And that's why we're going there. Right, Clu?"

Clu didn't respond, still processing the laundry list of impossible things that Jack had just rattled off.

"Again," Jack said, "how the hell do you know this without picking up a phone like a normal human being?"

Fi turned her focus out the window, angry.

"Yeah, Fi," Clu added. "I'd kind of like to know the answer to that myself."

"Do you two really want to know?"

"Yes! ... No!" the men answered.

"Something spoke to me while I was asleep. She told me the truth; what I need to do, what weapons we can use, everything about how to win the fight against the demon who took Dad before his time."

"And who's 'she'?" Jack asked her.

"I can't tell you."

"You're kidding, right? Your whole life, all you ever asked of me is that I believe you when you say crazy shit like this. Well, here I am, accepting it as reality, Fiona, so don't spare the details. How are we supposed to be a team if you don't talk to me? This could be the most important conversation we'll ever have," he said with a frustrated laugh.

"Jack, I promised."

"You promised a 'something'. I'm your _brother_."

Fi kept her lips sealed.

"Fine. Anyways, you must've dreamed it, because I can promise you," Jack continued, "nothing otherworldly got near you while you were out. I sat by your bedside and made sure of that."

"Oh? Except, oops! All of the nurses were demons," Fi let out sarcastically.

"_C'mon_. They couldn't have been possessed the whole time. We were an easy target in there. Why keep us alive?"

"Maybe we have other entities looking out for us too. Good ones, for once," Fi answered. "And don't bother asking me how I know that either, unless you want the same answer as before."

"More top secret information from the mysterious Something."

"Jack, if I could tell you the whole story, I would."

"Is it because I won't like the answer?" he asked, getting very serious.

Fi turned away.

"Fiona." Jack turned to face her. "Look at me."

Fi stared at her hands. "I made a promise," she repeated.

"A promise? What kind of promise?… A deal?"

"No."

"Fiona, tell me the truth! Did you make a deal with a demon for those powers?"

"No!"

Fi could see the concern on Jack's face through her hair, and felt Clu's eyes on her as well. She considered telling all, but couldn't bring herself to break her promise with Gabe.

"Then where'd they come from?"

"Genetics."

"Bullshit! That is total bullshit. And you know how I know it's total bullshit? Because, I'm channeling all of my brain power into telekinetically launching your stubborn ass out of this moving car, but here you are, still sittin' pretty in that seat. No freak gene is turning _me _into Carrie White at the prom. So tell me the truth, was it a demon? Is that why you won't talk about it? You made a deal with one of the same bottom-feeding pieces of shit we're hunting. Son of a bitch, Fi! How could you do something so stupid-"

"It was an angel! Okay!?" she finally spit out.

"Hah! Yeah, okay."

"Are you seriously going to deny the existence of angels!? Bigfoot, you accept, vampires, you accept, djinn, werewolves, sirens, _mermen_… but you're going to draw the line at angels? _You_? Charm necklace and all?"

"We've never seen one."

"So!?"

"I only believe in what I've seen."

"Since when!?"

_Since Gabe was killed_, he thought, then quickly repressed it, dodging Fi's question. "So you were touched by an angel. How are you so sure that's what it was and not something evil trying to manipulate you?"

"I just know! Listen, Jack, I'm trying to make as much sense out of this as possible, just like you are. All I can tell you is I woke up stronger. I feel powerful. I feel like we actually have a shot at killing this demon and breaking our family's curse."

Jack became quiet. After a few moments he replied, "Whatever's up with you, we're gonna take care of it."

"Take care of it how? Nothing's wrong with me, Jack," Fi said, becoming angry. "Why don't you take care of yourself? Hey, I've been meaning to ask if they let you bring your flask into the hospital, or did you have to check your whiskey at the door? You're supposed to be protecting me! And here you are living day after day half in the bag-"

"Hey!" Clu interjected. "Fi, if you don't want to talk about what happened, that's cool with me, but I'm not going to listen to you two fight all the way back to Colorado. My car, my rules. This isn't the Mustang, obviously, since you hog it all for yourself."

"Yeah, yeah," Jack mumbled dryly. "You have to admit it looks more badass without a car seat in the back."

"Low blow, dude. So… home?" Clu asked Fi in the rear-view mirror.

Fi gave a nod.

"Jack?"

Jack hovered his thumb over the call button on his cell phone for a moment before dropping the device into the cup holder. He turned and looked at Fi. There wasn't a tinge of doubt on her face.

"Okay," Jack finally responded. "Home it is."


	3. Chapter 3

With forty miles of US 287 behind them, the non-Mustang hardly stirred the gravel as it pulled away from the road, seeking shelter behind the tall weeds.

"This better be the shortest pee in human history," Jack called after Clu. "Three minutes tops or I'm stealing your car."

He watched his friend jog into the darkness and pulled his cell phone from the cup holder.

"Call her and let her know we're safe," Fi mumbled from the backseat without looking at him.

He gave Fi a quick frown as he hit "send". Straight to voicemail, as always.

"Hey mom, it's me. We're okay. Clu's giving us a lift. We're on the way to you."

"Do you think she's alright?" Fi asked with concern in her voice.

"I don't know," he responded, turning to face his sister. "Do you?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"So the whole psychic deal is a sometimes thing, huh? Seems inefficient."

"I don't have any more answers than you do, Jack. Give it a rest. I'm just listening to my gut. Feel free to do the same."

"Yeah, will do," he replied sarcastically, checking the time. Exactly three minutes had passed. He could see Clu making his way back toward the car.

"Speed it up, man," he shouted. Impatient, he slid into the driver's seat.

"Jack, leave him alone. You've got him running around with one arm in a sling."

Jack revved the engine and Clu quickened his pace.

"That wasn't even three minutes! I counted!" Clu argued as he settled into the passenger seat.

Jack wasted no time getting the car back on the road. The three drove a few miles further without another car in sight, when suddenly, a second set of headlights appeared ahead in the distance, rapidly approaching.

"High beams off, asshole," Jack groaned, squinting his eyes.

The lights illuminated the car from yards away, growing brighter as it neared.

"Whoa, this truck's flying," Clu commented.

_Too fast. And weaving a little too close to their lane..._

"Jack... back up," Fi urged. "Turn around. Go! Now."

"What the hell is this guy do-?" he started to say, when the sedan shifted itself into reverse, the gas pedal dropping out from under his foot and pressing itself into the floor, sending the car and its passengers forward with an uncomfortable jerk.

"Jack, man!" Clu yelled out.

"I'm not doing it!"

Both vehicles barreled down the road, the sedan speeding backward down the yellow line, the oncoming truck keeping pace. The light from its high beams blinded them. Jack couldn't steer if he tried, but somehow, _impossibly_, he didn't need to. The wheel shook in his hands but wouldn't budge. He struggled to read the speedometer... _90... 110..._

Cries of panic filled the sedan as the wheel abruptly cut to the left, causing the car to skid violently to a stop, narrowly avoiding a crash. The three, stunned to silence, watched on helplessly as the truck braked, turned, and continued its attack at full speed.

Jack struggled to take control, but there was nothing he could do to get them out of its path in time.

"Fi, the psychic thing would be very helpful right about now!" Jack pleaded to her reflection in the rear view mirror. To his surprise, Fi's eyes were dark and focused, as if in a trance. "Fi!"

"Fi, please!" Clu joined in, looking on in terror as the truck's headlights once again illuminated the car's interior.

The men braced themselves for impact. Fi didn't flinch.

Clu squeezed his eyelids shut but could still detect the intense light growing brighter, the sound of the truck getting louder and louder; its tires spinning, the engine revving. _Oh God, it was right on top of them._

Then, nothing.

No crunching metal, no broken bones. The car was intact. They were unharmed.

But the sound of spinning tires hadn't ceased. The engine still revved aggressively.

Clu and Jack exchanged confused looks. The road, now clear, was still illuminated by the truck's high beams, but where from?

In unison, the pair followed the sound of the truck's frustrated growls upward, above the roof of the car. They quickly unbuckled their seat belts and leaned out the windows.

To their disbelief, the truck was suspended in air, hovering six feet or so above them, tires turning, engine revving.

Moving fast, Jack jumped back into his seat and put the car in reverse. Before he could get moving, a thud on the roof.

Clu ducked instinctively as something leaped off the hood. Jack pressed his foot to the floor, barely out of harm's way when the truck came crashing to the ground.

Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a figure was charging at his door. Without hesitation, he removed his gun from his belt and fired. Again.

A man's silhouette crumbled to the gravel. Jack motioned for Clu to stay put, but his friend hopped out of the car behind him to investigate.

The struck man crawled toward them, unfazed, eyes black from lid to lid. Jack kept his gun on him, ready to fire, when the man's head abruptly fell backward, a dark cloud emerging from his mouth and up into the sky. The body went limp, its eyes paled.

Seemingly safe, both men quickly turned their attention to Fi. Jack's legs pumped forward, reaching the car just behind Clu.

Fi's sat eerily still, her eyes entirely black.

"Fi?" Clu's voice had shrunk to a whisper, shaken with fear. He tried to reach out to her, but Jack cautioned him not to.

"Fiona?" Jack said quietly, remembering her reaction back at the hospital.

"Jack," Clu insisted, reaching for the rear door handle. He shot Jack a disapproving look and carefully climbed into the backseat beside her. He eyed Fi's hands, observing her nails digging deeply into her thigh. Clu hesitantly extended his good arm.

"Don't-" Jack warned, watching on, keeping his hand gripped tightly around his gun.

"It's okay, Fi," Clu offered in a hushed tone. He laced his fingers with hers and gently peeled her hands away from her legs. To his surprise, she loosened her grip and softly held his hand in hers.

She blinked a few times, her eyes returning to their natural color. She turned to face Clu, though it appeared as if she was having trouble recognizing him.

Without expression, she leaned into him, and fell asleep on his shoulder. He tucked her head under his chin and kissed her forehead before turning his attention to Jack.

"We've got to keep moving," said Jack. "There are things trying to kill us. We're vulnerable out here."

Without another word, Jack got behind the wheel and shifted the car into drive.

Clu sat in silence as his heartbeat returned to normal, focusing on Fi's hand in his own. He thought of the innocent man they had just left on the side of the road; the truck that had almost ended his life; his son, and his family back home.

He had escaped death for the second time in a matter of weeks. Clu adjusted his posture to hold Fi a little closer.


End file.
